I often skip launch day (I know, sacrilege! - but so many opened floodgates have been disastrous), unless there was no name reservation. I have not taken off time from work (or friends & family).
Though there was this time in 1998 when I was invited to beta phase three for a project by 989 Studios. When I loaded up that game I was so intrigued I cancelled my four day camping trip to Acadia and spent the rest of my Thanksgiving holiday exploring Norrath (slept little, ate less).
Kumu said:I often skip launch day (I know, sacrilege! - but so many opened floodgates have been disastrous), unless there was no name reservation. I have not taken off time from work (or friends & family).
Though there was this time in 1998 when I was invited to beta phase three for a project by 989 Studios. When I loaded up that game I was so intrigued I cancelled my four day camping trip to Acadia and spent the rest of my Thanksgiving holiday exploring Norrath (slept little, ate less).
Haha, nice mate and that is fair enough, I expect a lot of replies to be heavily in favour of big sessions from launch with time of work but I am interested in hearing replies like yours too as I know there are more people out there who share your thoughts, myself included ;)
I took time off for each of EverQuests first three expansions and then I took two weeks off for Vanguards release. I have 10 weeks of vacation saved for Pantheon's release should it be out this year but as I can only roll so much. I will have to take some vacation this year and star re-saving next year. I should have a solid 10 weeks ready when it releases so bring it!
Logged on EQ after work on a Friday (around 1800), went back to work Monday morning at 0700..not much was achieved that day. Was it worth it, probably not...but spending time with like minded EQ nerds was fun and that's one of the reasons EQ was so good...it was social, in a nerdy way.
Launch is such a beautiful hell. The ups and downs of servers, the countless waves of avatars zerging through newbie zones. I have particiapted in the gaming rite of passage more times than I can count. The most time I committed to a launch was three days; two days were PTO from work and luckily had no family commitments back in those days. Lately I prefer to spread out my initial game time; roll my character play a normal session at launch then I'll wait a few days before taking off work to avoid the initial rush.
I have taken a variation of approaches depending on beta testing results and availability of the servers/guildmates.
I have taken a week off of work on launches if there are significant gates and a push for the guild to need to key or assist with missions that are hurdles.
The majority of the time I have elected to skip the bleeding edge push and be right behind the "OMG get out of my way all your spawns are belong to us, and I can't believe you are insulting me by taking my spawns" folks (when we were in the zone before them camping away) that made up about 5% of a server, but ahead of those who may struggle through the content because they can't find a group/don't have a supportive guild.
Longest Gaming session at Launch - about 18 hours, 6 hrs sleep...18 hrs game..... 6 hrs sleep... rinse repeat for that entire week I took off on leave or PTO depending on my military status!
As for the longest gaming session... 54 hrs straight - Stormfeather in Iceclad...FU Stormfeather I still have nightmares...
EDIT: Typos
Usually game launchs have fallen in times I normally have been on vacation and usually put in 20 hours a day during those times to play the game. However my new job that isn't a option because they block out times of the year where your not allowed to take them which for me has always been from Thanksgiving to New Years usually. The longest I have played straight to beat a game, is 120 hours back in 1992. It was a competition between a group at my job since we all worked for CompUSA. I take hardcore to the extreme, even though I consider myself a casual player.
I took off four days for the launch of Guild Wars 2, and am extremely happy I did so. That game's launch was one of the best I've ever seen. Almost no lag or disconnects, due to their phased server thingy they had going on. Though I know it's not the route Pantheon is taking (and I'm not upset about that), the solution was still elegant.
I remember talking to my boss at work a few weeks prior to the event.
"Now... tell me again why you're taking off an entire weekend?"
"...There's.... a uh.... game."
I'm pretty sure I stayed up for like two days straight, playing about 20+ hours each day, then toning it down a bit for the next few days before I had to go back to work.
I took off just two days for ArcheAge, and in completely opposite faction, that launch was miserable. Laggy, buggy, gold sellers, farmers, rampant PvP. Absolutely awful. I spent more than 6 hours simply trying to log into the game, and when I finally got in, was so disgusted by the state of things I rage logged out. I regretted that about an hour later, and spent the rest of day 1 trying to log back in. The whole thing was miserable and stressful.
I think I probably spent nearly 30 hours awake, but was only actually able to play for maybe 2 or 3 of those hours.
The longest I have played in one session without logging off was 78 hours. Passed out on my keyboard. The imprint of the keyboard on my face when I woke up was priceless. That was for EQ2 in the original launch month but not for actual launch.
For Pantheon I will be taking off all 5 weeks of vacation I have saved and playing the whole time ( I had to confirm this with the wife lol ). Going to be doing 20 hour play sessions with the first session being the longest at 36-48 hours.
#poopsock
72 hour straight first time i loaded up guildwars1. Mud's when I was in highschool I could go weeks straight. Now with my work, I don't have to 'take off' and can just play in my office/truck.
Can't remember how long it took because time was a blur after the first couple days, but I was the first level 70 tank worldwide in EQ2. Second level 70 overall ... minutes behind some dirty ranger!
Nanfoodle said:EQ1, 36hr straight camping jboots for my Necro. I did it on the weekend so I would not need to take time off work. Still my most coveted item I have ever earned in a game. I loved them boots dearly.
That was actually my first all nighter back in the early years of EQ. Camping drelzna in Najena. Got up after family was asleep and my entire group got their jboots. I was last and I had to catch the bus to school an hour later. Friends that played EQ were impressed. Everyone else that I told seemed confused and less impressed.
oneADseven said:Can't remember how long it took because time was a blur after the first couple days, but I was the first level 70 tank worldwide in EQ2. Second level 70 overall ... minutes behind some dirty ranger!
Yo dude! Were you in one of the top three guilds worldwide around that time? NPU, Second Dawn or Dissolution? Because I was in Dissolution. We may have indirectly known of each other lol.
Kilsin said:What is the most amount of time you have spent playing a game in one session from its official launch and did you take time off work for it?
Definately EQ1. And yes I took time off work on release day and every expansion release. Although it was my first mmorpg and it was awesome I did spend a lot of time leveling and helping. Only once did I spend a boatload of hours in a row. Like 26 hours in a row. We were gettting a raid going and had some trouble getting down in Karnors castle. By the time we got everyone down the dragon was not up yet. I remember we kept pulling from the hallways to keep our senses straight. But a few people left with call nunbers when it was settled and a few people fell asleep. ZZZZZ
It was about 11am the next morning we got everyone together and set out. We got wiped and spent a few hours getting everyone corpse back. My wife went to sleep about 11 pm the night before and when she got up asked me if I was still woiting.
It was fun but never again will I wait on a spawn like that.
I played EQ1 from launch til 2006 but we were losing our guild to other games and changed games ourselves.
I've never gone overboard on launch day. Usually the server crashes, lag, and overpopulation rain on the parade. But Pantheon will be an exception for me. I plan on taking two weeks off from work (will take more if I can) and my preparations resemble something like an apocalyptic contingency plan, complete with meal replacement drinks lol.